Thomond Park is to be no more. Well, the ground will be redeveloped, but in a move sure to anger vast swathes of Munster fans, between them the IRFU and the Munster Branch have decided to sell the naming rights when the ground is reopened in November.
Selling naming rights is increasingly common amid the spiralling costs of stadium building, but for the most part it has been confined to stadia built on new sites, such as the Emirates Stadium and the Reebok Stadium in England.
By contrast, temptations to generate finances by renaming grounds redeveloped on their original sites have usually been resisted, often without even debate. Into this category fall Croke Park, Wembley, Twickenham, Eden Park and Murrayfield. The notion of renaming Croke Park, whatever fortune might have been dangled in front of the GAA, would not have been countenanced.
The decision on Thomond Park is all the more puzzling when one considers the lengthy (three-year) and costly process of acquiring adjacent houses and obtaining planning permission.
The IRFU/Munster Branch having gone to such lengths to maintain the original site, it makes less sense to then sacrifice such a huge chunk of Irish rugby folklore.
For the costs entailed, they might just as easily have relocated to a greenfield site and build a bigger stadium than the proposed 26,000-seater on what was once known as Thomond Park. With the additional space, there would also have been more scope to build, say, a centre of rugby, which could also have served Munster's logistically difficult bilocation between Limerick and Cork.
One cannot imagine Leicester Tigers, for example, ever changing the name of Welford Road to, say, Toyota Park, if it were redeveloped, much less the IRFU making a similar decision on Lansdowne Road.
Of course, tradition and heritage are impossible to measure in euro, but even allowing for Leicester finally ending Munster's 11-year unbeaten record at Thomond Park in the Heineken European Cup, much of that aura of fortress impregnability associated with the name Thomond would have persisted - and Munster will surely sacrifice some of that with this move.
After all, how can one measure the influence the mere name Croke Park had when the Irish rugby and football teams hosted matches there this year, most notably when Ireland beat England 48-18 in the Six Nations?
It is not yet clear how much the naming rights will defray the projected €43-million cost of redeveloping Thomond Park, which will also benefit from a 10-year ticket scheme, corporate boxes and grants from the Government and the IRFU.
An announcement on the redevelopment and renaming is anticipated tomorrow in Limerick. The first phase is expected to be completed in time for Munster's first home match in the European Cup next November, the capacity remaining at the previous limit of 12,000 for next season.
The proposed 26,000 capacity is scheduled to be achieved by the start of the 2008-2009 season.
Meanwhile, the European Cup having been on the brink of collapse, the draw for next season's competition will take place in the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, today and will follow the established format of six pools comprising four teams each.
ERC chairman Jean-Pierre Lux will conduct the draw, along with the former British and Irish Lions, Wales and Llanelli Scarlets number eight Scott Quinnell.
Fellow Lion and former Wales captain Ieuan Evans, a European Cup winner with Bath in 1998, will be MC for the draw.
The top seeds from the six competing nations will be kept apart at the head of the six pools, namely London Wasps (England), Stade Français Paris (France), Leinster (Ireland), Benetton Treviso (Italy), Glasgow Warriors (Scotland) and the Ospreys (Wales).
As a rule, no two teams from the same country will be drawn in the same pool. The exception will involve the seventh English club, NEC Harlequins, who will face one of their domestic rivals.
After the six top seeds have been drawn, the remaining English teams (except Harlequins) will be drawn into five separate pools, ditto the remaining five French teams, then the three others from Wales, then Ulster and Munster, before Viadana and Edinburgh are drawn into separate pools. Finally Harlequins will fill the 24th slot.
Effectively therefore, it is an open draw, save for Leinster knowing they will avoid the other top seeds and the other two Irish provinces.
Each of the three Irish sides are sure to face at least one French and one English team, and at least one of them will also draw a Welsh side or one from Scotland or Italy.
After that, it's pot luck.